Here I am with a new chapter! This chapter didn't come easy to me, mostly because I don't do character interaction very well. I hope you like it!
Fanfic translated by deepl
"Normal speech"
'Thought'
[Tier Magic/Wild Magic]
{Skills}
(Martial arts)
"Mr. Bassan, our team is ready to depart" Said a red-haired man dressed in light mithril armor.
The slightly overweight man, upon hearing that he was being addressed, turned his attention away from the crates of silk fabrics he was inspecting and looked at the man. The man was a paladin from the Black Spider mithril adventurer team hired by Rhehled Bassan to protect his trade wagon. This would be the first time he interacted with this team. Usually he hired Hound Dogs of the mithril rank as well, but today they were busy on a mission.
"Wonderful, in that case I will be in your care Mr. Gruz. Please take care of me" Said Rhehled.
"Come on Mr. Bassan, just call me Iwof. No need to be so formal" Said Iwof Gruz with a slight smile on his face.
"Good, then you call me Rhehled too" Replied Rhehled extending his hand for a handshake. He had a smile on his face similar to Iwof's.
"Fair enough" Iwof shook Rhehled's hand before pointing his hand at the people behind him. "Rhehled, let me introduce my teammates."
Rhehled turned his attention to four people. Three men and one woman. They all had different clothing and weapons.
When Iwof pointed with his hand, one of the men dressed in boiled brown leather stepped forward. He looked to be in his early thirties. "This is Rudolph Minkan, our ranger. He is an excellent archer, and can also cook tolerably well."
"Tolerably well? Yes my cooking skills are at least at the level of a restaurant chef, ah..." Rudolph thrust his chest forward and raised his chin haughtily, he started to praise his cooking talents, only he was immediately shut up by his teammate.
"Rudy shut up, we all know your skills," Said the only girl whose name Rhehled didn't know yet. She made quotation marks with her fingers on the word skills. "The most you can do is make over-salted pork soup."
The other team members began to let out small chuckles, Rudolph in turn looked at the girl with an unwavering gaze and waved his hand. "Shut up woman, you don't know anything about good food."
"I know more than you do." snapped the girl back.
Before the argument could play out, Iwof intervened.
"Rudolph, Nalri enough. You are delaying our client with your bickering" Iwof said harshly. The two culprits only simultaneously snorted and turned away.
Iwof turned to Rhehled with a guilty look and bowed his head. "Sorry about that Rhehled. Those two are always like cat and dog."
Rhehled only laughed loudly, it reminded him of his own son and his daughter-in-law. The picture was the same.
"Nothing to apologize for, I'm in no hurry to go anywhere" Rhehled licked his lips and continued. "I see you have a merry company" Rhehled winked.
"There is that ha ha" Iwof scratched the back of his head awkwardly with his hand. Then coughed and continued to introduce his team. "This is our healer, you already know her, but I will still introduce her full name. Her name is Nalri Shav, she can use level 3 druid magic, so if you need healing along the way, feel free to contact her."
"Level 3? Wow. You look so young, if it's no secret how old are you?" Rhehled asked surprised. He knew something about magic, so he realized that only a few people could reach level 3. Some take decades to reach something like that.
Nalri, who had already cooled down from the conflict with Rudolph, smiled sweetly and resting her wooden staff on the ground said. "I am nineteen sir."
Rhehled's eyes rounded. To reach level 3 at the age of 19 was something incredible. This girl was a genius of geniuses.
"Amazing! What a talent! Young lady, I'm sure by the time you're 30 you'll have already reached level 4 if you keep it up" Passionately muttered Rhehled.
"Thank you, my magic mentor said as much" Said Nalri, her face slightly flushed from the praise.
"Alright then, let's get on with it" intervened Iwof. "That leaves only Vengrad Loss, our level 3 arcane spellcaster, as well as our brigand Argif Ku Proun"
The two men were quite interesting in Rhehled's view. The caster in the gray robe had eyes with irises of all colors. An rainbow eye, he realized. They were rare now since Inveria had fallen 250 years ago due to an undead catastrophe. He had heard that rainbow eyes had an affinity for the magic of the four basic elements, making them excellent arcane spellcasters.
The second man was dressed like a ninja, but that wasn't what was remarkable, it was the crystal horn sticking out of his forehead. Unless Rhehled was mistaken, Argif belonged to some tribe of horned men whose members had the name of that very tribe in their names. Was it Ku or Proun? Rhehled did not know.
"Well now that that's taken care of, I guess we can move out. Rhehled?" Iwof turned his attention to Rhehled.
"Yes my friend, although I am in no particular hurry, I would still like to arrive in Soba by midnight" Rhehled replied in a businesslike tone. He glanced at the sun, which was already slowly starting to change its color to orange.
Hearing this Iwof clapped his hands together. "Alright guys, get in the wagon" The others only nodded.
One by one, the adventurers climbed into the covered wagon, next to the crates containing the remnants of cloth and threads that Rhehled had not sold, as well as the chests of gold he had gotten from the sale. Iwof put on his mithril helmet and climbed into the coachman's seat. Rhehled thought this decision was a good choice, as if the bandits attacked them with arrows Iwof would be less likely to be injured because of his armor.
When everything was ready, Iwof whipped the horse lightly with the reins and steered it towards the eastern gate of the Great Fortress City.
As he approached the gate Rhehled noticed a strange bird perched on the roof of the city guard's booth. It looked like a vulture, only it was very skinny and skinned, as if it was going to starve to death at any moment. Honestly, it was very creepy. But the scariest part was her eyes. They seemed to have an otherworldly red light burning in them, which was directed straight at Rhehled.
It seemed to him that this was no ordinary bird, but something more sinister. It made him break out in a sweat.
"Hey, Mr. Rhehled are you alright?" Rhehled flinched when he was called out. It was Nalri.
He glanced up at the roof of the booth again, but it was empty.
'Must be imagined,' he thought.
"Y-yes, just a vision" Rhehled replied, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the sweat from his face.
The rest was business as usual. They passed through customs quietly, as the guards knew Rhehled, they let them through without any questions. After that they drove down the country road towards Soba.
Unbeknownst to the group, the red eyes of a bird in the sky watched them steadily.
Several hours had passed since the merchant Rhehled and the Black Spider team had left the Great Fortress City. The sun had already hidden behind the horizon, and so they had to light magical lamps to illuminate the road. The team didn't encounter any obstacles along the way, if things continued like this, they would reach their destination in 2-3 hours.
Nalri twirled her staff in her palms as she listened to the stories her companions shared with Rhehled. Surprisingly the merchant was a rather friendly man, which was rare based on her experience. Influential merchants like Rhehled usually had egos like nobles and behaved boorishly to those they considered beneath them. Adventurers like her and her friends often fell into that category.
"And so I am surrounded on three sides by hobgoblins. At this time, the rest of my comrades are also busy in their own skirmishes, so there is no one to help me. There's nothing to do, I have to take these creatures on. I sharply snatch an arrow, then I put it into the one in front right in the eye. Then I throw the bow back at the one behind me, and while he's distracted, I run up to him and slit his throat like this. SWOOSH! And the last bastard, seeing that his friends were dead so quickly, hesitated for a second, which allowed me to throw the dagger I had just used to slit his brother's throat at him." Rudolph spoke in a loud voice, almost a shout, while waving his dagger vigorously through the air as if his enemies were actually standing there.
'Godness... He retells that story to everyone he meets. One time he managed to show off and now he'll be bragging about it for the rest of his life' Nalri thought, rolling her eyes and shaking her head from side to side.
She turned away, glancing out into the darkness of the night. The lanterns illuminated only ten meters of the road ahead of the wagon, the rest of it was in almost impenetrable darkness.
'Just a couple more missions and I can finally buy that ring of accelerated mana regeneration' A dreamy smile spread across Nalri's lips as she thought about what she would spend her adventurer's fees on.
Her leader's voice brought her out of her musings. "Rudolph, what's wrong? Did you notice something?"
Nalri hadn't noticed how the wagon had gotten too quiet. Other than the clatter of hooves and wheels on the dirt road, not a sound could be heard. She turned her attention to Rudolph.
He was no longer the arrogant jerk who annoyed her on every occasion. Instead, he was deadly serious, seemingly staring off into space. It made Nalri clutch her staff tighter. While he could be an annoying person, he was still one of the best rangers in the Great Fortress City, his sense of danger far surpassing any of her team.
"Rudolph?" Iwof repeated. Rudolph who heard this flinched, the color drained from his face. In a quiet voice he said. "Y-yes, I don't know what it is but there is something ahead. It's something dangerous, because my instincts are telling me to run with all my might."
A chill ran down Nalri's back. Something dangerous? What kind of monster could be so powerful that it would make a mithril rank adventurer run? Several options came to her mind, among which she could only identify battle trolls and elder lichs.
The former were entering the realm of heroes, which already made them impossible opponents for a Mythril-ranked adventurer, and that was not to mention their powerful regeneration. Although it could be interrupted with fire and acid, it didn't matter much to a monster with a difficulty rating of 90.
Elder lichs were considered dungeon masters who could use at least level 3 magic, but that wasn't the most terrifying thing about them. Because no matter how strong a caster was, even a level 5 mage could fall in close combat. No. The most dangerous thing about the elder lichs was their abnormally high mana reserves, thanks to which they could nonstop launch powerful spells like [Fireball] and [Lightning].
If they met either of those two, they would be lucky if they could escape.
'Damn and why did it have to happen to us specifically?' Nalri reprimanded in her head.
Surely she knew what she was signing up for when she joined the adventurer's guild. There's a reason they say that most adventurers don't live to a ripe old age. Being an adventurer is like walking on a thin rope hanging over an abyss, one wrong step and you're dead.
"I see," Iwof looked over his shoulder at them all. "Stay alert, if we're lucky we'll be able to detour around what lies ahead, but if not..." He didn't need to finish that last part, everyone already knew what it meant.
Everyone nodded solemnly and began to prepare for a possible battle. Nalri could feel herself going into battle mode as she always did on such occasions. Her perception of her surroundings heightened as she gripped her staff more comfortably, ready to use reinforcements or healing spells.
"Rhehled hide between the crates just in case, this could be dangerous for you" Said Iwof turning to the merchant.
The man audibly swallowed and said. "Good... I rely on you my friends" After that, he sat down between two large crates of cloth.
For the next few minutes, they rode in complete silence and tension. Everyone was ready to snap out of their seats at any moment, including Nalri.
Nalri gazed frantically into the darkness ahead of the carriage. Although she didn't have the senses of a ranger, she still began to feel a strange atmosphere in the air as well. It was as if something was completely wrong.
Suddenly, something that looked like a wall made of some white material appeared out of the darkness. This thing stood directly in the path of the carriage and although they had slowed down since Rudolf's revelation, their speed was still considerable.
The horses roared as Yvof pulled sharply on the reins. "Hold on tight!"
The wagon swerved sharply to the right, causing Nalri to hit the left wall of the wagon painfully. The shocks didn't end there, the wagon flipped over on its side from the sudden change of direction and everyone in it was painfully crushed by crates of cloth and gold.
Nalri groaned and climbed out of the crate, but the one that fell on her was half-empty and she received only minor bruises and abrasions.
Her companions were also almost unhurt due to their physical constitution, with only Vengrad and Rhehled suffering moderate injuries due to their physical weakness.
Nalri hurriedly healed Vengrad's broken fingers. "[Cure Light Wounds]"
"Thank you, Nalri" Smiled Vengrad, flexing and unbending her fingers a few times.
"You're welcome" She replied. After that, she was about to cast a spell on Rhehled's broken forearm, but he stopped her.
"Wait miss, don't waste your mana on useless ballast like me, you'll need it in battle" Said Rhehled hissing as he cradled his right arm.
Nalri wanted to object but stopped herself as she realized he was right. Rhehled's hand could wait until after the battle was over.
Iwof climbed out of where the coachman's seat had been. "You're not hurt?" He asked.
"I healed Vengrad, Rhehled refused to be healed, the others were only slightly injured."
Iwof pressed his lips together and nodded. "I see, Rhehled sit in the wagon for now, we'll check what happened"
"Alright" Nodded Rhehled, cautiously taking a seat in the overturned wagon.
Nalri and the others began to climb out of the wagon to the outside. Because the magic lanterns had broken there was nothing to see in the dark, however Vengrad had taken care of that.
"[Continual Light]" Vengrad cast the spell and the surroundings lit up with a small but bright ball of light.
After the lighting problem was solved, the group of adventurers lined up in battle order. Iwof and Rudolph in the vanguard, Nalri and Vengrad right behind them and finally Agrif, covering their rear.
"Rudolph." said Iwof. Rudolph didn't need to be told twice as he stepped up and used a martial art.
"(Sense Enhancement)" A small orange aura illuminated his body for a moment before he pointed his finger somewhere in the sky. "Over there!"
Everyone looked to where the ranger was pointing. At first Nalri saw nothing but stars, but as she looked closer she saw something huge coming towards them. As it approached, the light of the spell reflected off the creature's snow-white scales.
Nalri felt goosebumps run down her skin as fear began to take hold of her. The creature landed causing a small earthquake and a wind that nearly knocked her off her feet.
"Fuck, what the fuck is that?!" Roared Agrif what was on everyone's mind.
"I-it looks like a d-dragon!" Vengrad answered him in a stuttering voice.
Nalri took a closer look. The shape of the creature's head was snake-like, but the four powerful limbs and a pair of webbed wings attached to its body dispelled any doubts about its origins.
The dragon looked at them with glowing red eyes, after which she thought it smiled.
"Well, well, well and who is it that we have walking around here so late at night mmmmm?" The dragon spoke to them causing everyone to let out a collective sigh of surprise. Of course legends and fairy tales say that dragons are intelligent creatures that can talk, but it's one thing to read about it in a book and quite another to learn about it first hand. "Didn't your mother tell you as a child that it was dangerous to walk at night, you never know who you might run into?" The dragon seemed to smile even more, revealing razor sharp teeth.
Nalri heard a low whine coming from someone on her team. She didn't know who it was, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was all of them at once. Needless to say, she was on the verge of a breakdown herself. Her knees were shaking, as was the staff in her hands, and she would have run, but her legs wouldn't listen.
She was brought out of her daze by some sound beside her. When she looked over to see what it was, she saw Iwof standing there with a shaking sword pointed at the dragon.
"W-what do you want with us? Are you the one who overturned our wagon?" Asked Iwof to the dragon in a frightened voice.
"What a rude man, pointing a weapon at your interlocutor is impolite you know" Said the dragon, there was amusement in his voice. Nalri noticed it only now, but this dragon had a surprisingly normal voice not befitting such a huge creature. No. She would even say pleasant. "Oh well, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll forgive you that."
"As for your question, sword boy, yes it was me. As it turns out the [Skeleton Wall] spell can be used not only for defense, but also for obstruction" Said the Dragon picking at his teeth with a claw. "Well as for what I need hehe, I'll keep that to myself."
Now it clicked in Nalri's head. That's what it was there on the road moments before the wagon flipped over. It was dragon magic. Only she had never heard of such magic. Benefit as if reading her thoughts Vengrad raised his voice.
"Guys, [Skeleton Wall] is a level 3 spell from Necromancy" Said Vengrad, his voice was not as scared as Nalri expected.
Everyone immediately realized what it meant. This dragon was at least a level 3 spellcaster. That alone made it a dangerous opponent, but the sense of danger emanating from it told them that they would not come out of this situation victorious.
Nalri felt something wet running down her pants. Unbeknownst to herself, she peed her pants in fear.
"Gee, we got a smart guy here. And a rainbow eye too, huh? And here I thought my magic killed you all" Said the dragon in a sarcastic tone.
"W-what do you mean?" Asked Iwof.
"Oh yes, you don't know. Well I was the one who destroyed Inveria 250 years ago. I am responsible for the undead catastrophe" Said the dragon as if he was passing judgment.
This statement caused a new wave of sighs. Everyone knew about the undead catastrophe that wiped out 4 nations. The effects of it were felt even nowadays, as the undead populations of those countries were still plaguing the world of the living. The countries around the fallen nations had to set up troops on the border to defend themselves from the undead invasion.
"That's a lie! No one can possess such power!" Nalri suddenly shouted out. She hadn't expected such a thing from herself.
Vengrad echoed her words. "That's right, everyone knows that even a level 6 caster can't accomplish such a feat!"
Her friends, one after another, shouted out their arguments in support of them. As time went on, Nalri became less afraid when logic confirmed that the dragon's words were false. Only a quiet voice inside her head whispered to her 'what if it's true?" but she quickly silenced it, either out of disbelief or because she was afraid to believe something like that. After all, if the dragon's words were true, then they had no chance of survival.
"Ah how unfortunate it is when your words are not believed," The dragon shook his head from side to side. Suddenly his voice lost any expression becoming terribly cold and sharp. "Well, while it was fun at first, I'm starting to get tired of it now."
Nalri felt a pain in her stomach as a new wave of fear swept through her body. She clutched her fingers into her staff so that they turned white.
Her friends tensed at the dragon's words as well, if the sounds Nalri heard could say anything.
"My name is Cure Elim Los Malvar, I am also known as the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord. Remember that name well before you die" Said the dragon now known as Cure Elim. There was an inordinate amount of pride in his voice as he said his name.
The entire atmosphere became extremely heated. If before it had felt like a knife had been held to their throats, now it felt like a meteorite was falling on them, ready to crush them in a moment.
Iwof realized that something had to be done if they were to survive. And so he shouted to his comrade. "Vengrad! Block his view!"
He didn't need to be told twice. For his comrades could act as a coherent mechanism, literally understanding each other's thoughts. So great was their mutual understanding.
"[Mist Cloud]!" Vengrad pointed his staff with the blue stone at Cure Elim's face. In the same second, a mist enveloped the dragon's head, effectively obstructing his vision.
"Everyone split up!" Iwof ran to the right along with Rudolph, while the others rushed to the left.
'Damn it, what to do, what to do? If he uses fire breath, we're all doomed. Should we run under his head? No, he'll just crush us with his weight, we need something else. Go around him from both sides? Not an option either. His long tail could easily sweep one of us away. Shit!' Iwof was desperately trying to think of some strategy, but nothing was coming to his mind.
Suddenly, a voice not far from his face made him flinch. 'Nice move, it might even work if I were a lesser creature, but unfortunately for you dragons are immune to sight hindering effects' Cure Elim's head was now at Iwof's level, a few meters away from him.
'How did he get here so quickly! A second ago his head was up there!' Iwof was surprised and because of this he hesitated for a moment. Rudolph came to his aid.
"Suck it, you stupid lizard!" He shouted, pulling up the bowstring. The next moment an arrow flew straight into Cure Elim's left eye, but unfortunately his eyelid closed too quickly, causing the arrow to bounce off the scales.
Although Rudolph's prank did not do any good, it gave Iwof time to come to his senses. He gripped his sword tighter and began to recite martial arts. "(Ability Boost), (Greater Ability Boost), (Heavy Blow)!" Several multicolored auras burst out from his body.
Iwof also used the paladin skill {Holy Strike} to infuse his blade with divine power. He did this under the assumption that since Cure Elim used necromancy, he must be an evil being subject to holiness.
Iwof's sword glowed and he leaped at Cure Elim's head, delivering a horizontal strike directly at his right eye. He was lucky, the sword easily entered the eyeball, blasting its contents with holy power, causing the fluids in the eye to leak out.
The Dragon Lord jerked his head upwards, after which he laughed. "Pha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Your pathetic attack went nowhere, little man! Your strength isn't enough to even make me feel pain! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Suddenly, Cure Elim's destroyed eye began to reunite right before his eyes and within a second, there wasn't even a hint of any damage.
Iwof felt his knees shake. 'Shit! Where did this regeneration come from! I've never heard of dragons possessing anything like that!
"Okay, it would be stupid of me to set up and not respond in any way, don't you think so?" Cure Elim's face stretched in a sadistic smile.
The Dragon Lord raised his left paw and slapped Iwof with it lazily. Although what Cure Elim thought was a lazy kick, to Iwof it felt like a carriage crashing into him at full throttle. He felt his arms break and his ribs crack as he flew backwards.
His body tumbled on the ground for several meters. Stopping, he rolled over onto his stomach and coughed up some blood onto the grass.
"'Iwof!" Iwof heard a shout, I think it was Nalri. The next second his pain was washed away, replaced by a pleasant warmth.
When clarity returned to his head, he realized that Nalri had healed him.
"Damn bastard!" Rudolph shot at Cure Elim again, but he didn't even bother to dodge.
"My God, how rude of you. It's not my fault that your leader turned out to be such a weakling. After all, it's hard to step on an ant without crushing it at the same time" Cure Elim scoffed.
"Die! [Maximize Magic: Fireball]!" Iwof watched as a fireball the size of a watermelon flew out of Vengrad's staff, heading straight for Cure Elim's head.
The fireball exploded into a large whirlwind of fire that engulfed Cure Elim's face. The fire was so strong that Iwof could feel its heat from several meters away.
The fire dissipated showing Cure Elim's unharmed face with that predatory smile.
'We should have refused this order. I'm sorry guys, in the pursuit of money I let you all down' Iwof remembered that before accepting Rhehled's assignment they had taken another assignment to exterminate a pack of bargesmen living in the forest. He had insisted on accepting that assignment then, because the barges could be killed the next day. After all, escorting a merchant was a simple task with good pay, a chance that didn't come along very often.
'I'm sorry, I'm sorry' Iwof clenched his teeth in despair, he could feel tears starting to gather in the heads of his eyes.
"[Fireball], hmm. You know I can shoot fire too, let's see whose is stronger." Cure Elim raised his right paw and jutted out his index finger with a hooked claw. "[Undying Flame]"
A bluish-white flame ignited at the tip of the Dragon Lord's claw and rapidly grew to twice the size of Vengrad's fireball. The flames flew towards Vengrad, Nalri, and Agrif.
"Noooo!" Rudolph shouted as he reached out his hand towards his friends.
Vengrad tried to cast a spell to defend himself, but he didn't have time because Cure Elim's fire was faster.
The flames consumed everything in a five meter area, instantly incinerating the three humans.
Iwof felt his legs go under as he collapsed to his knees. Tears were no longer held back by anything and poured freely from his eyes. His friends... three of his friends had just, just died in front of him. It was all his fault.
"Forgive me..." Moaned Iwof with a sob. Snot was oozing from his nose.
"No... Vengrad... Agrif... and even that annoying Nalri... WHY? WHY?!" Rudolph shuddered as he cried out in grief and despair. "DIE! DIE! DIE!"
In blind rage, Rudolph launched arrows at Cure Elim one after another.
"Okay I've had enough fun already" Cure Elim said in a bored voice.
Iwof didn't know what happened, one moment Rudolph released another arrow and the next he fell chopped in half in the stomach area.
The Dragon Lord's tail hovered not far from Iwof, allowing him to see the blood dripping from its tip. Cure Elim swung it lazily, shaking off the blood.
Iwof lowered his head, looking at the ground. He was shaking, everyone he cared about had just died. All he was capable of now was silent sobs.
Suddenly he felt something forcefully lift his head. It was Cure Elim's claw, which he used to lift him up by his chin. His red eyes looked into Iwof's crying galas.
"Oh yes... It's so nice to see such desperation in someone's eyes. I would like to see the same expression on Ainz, it's just a pity that he doesn't have eyes" Said Cure Elim with joy in his voice.
The next thing Iwof felt was the pressure around his body. His bones were breaking one by one and piercing his internal organs with their shards.
"Ahhhh!" Iwof howled in agony before being silenced forever.
Cure Elim wiggled his paw shaking off the scraps of the human adventurer he had crushed. His mood had improved since killing those humans. Or rather improved as much as his emotion suppressor allowed.
It had been almost twenty-four hours since the ritual had been performed, much of that time Cure Elim had been pondering what he should do next. He finally came to the conclusion that he needed to figure out his location on the Overlord's timeline. He needed to know whether he was before Nazarick's appearance or after, and only then, based on the circumstances, decide what to do next.
By the way, his adventurer hunt was no mere entertainment. Cure Elim wanted to elicit information from the merchant about the situation near the Slaine Theocracy and the other kingdoms at the center of the storyline.
'Speaking of the merchant...' A smile stretched across the Dragon Lord's face.
The aforementioned merchant was sitting in an overturned carriage amongst the boxes and diligently pretending he wasn't there.
Cure Elim chuckled, a Russian folk tale that Pavel Stukov had read as a child came to his mind.
He brought his head closer to the wagon, then tapped lightly on the wall with the knuckle of the fingers on his paw.
"Кто-кто в теремочке живет? Кто-кто в невысоком живет? " Cure Elim began to speak with expression in Russian. "Я, Толстый Торговец! А ты кто? "
"А я Дракончик-вампирчик. Пусти меня к себе жить! " With that, Cure Elim stuck two fingers into the wagon and grabbed the merchant. The one in turn started screaming like a hysterical woman.
Cure Elim gently threw the merchant to the ground, causing him to shriek in pain. Apparently his arm was broken, but that didn't bother the Dragon Lord in the least.
"P-please don't kill me! I have a family I..." The fat man babbled in panic, but Cure Elim interrupted him.
"Shut up flea, your squeaky voice is annoying my nonexistent ears" Cure Elim growled.
The merchant shrank back in fear. "Y-yes your grace!"
The Dragon Lord smiled sadistically. If there was one thing he enjoyed besides the desperation of his victims, it was seeing them fawn and grovel before him.
"Okay, let's start simple. What's your name?" Cure Elim asked.
"Rhehled Bassan, your grace!" Said the merchant bowing his head in some semblance of deference.
"Good, Rhehled. Now answer me this, do you know countries like the Slaine Theocracy, the Baharut Empire, and the Kingdom of Re-Estiz? If you try to lie to me I will suck out the souls of your entire family and turn their corpses into undead" Asked Cure Elim with a threat at the end.
He had to resort to threats because he unfortunately didn't possess any brainwashing spells. He also couldn't use the vampire's eyes of enchantment for some reason. Perhaps it was because he hadn't developed himself as a true vampire in any way.
Rehled turned white as chalk and began to mumble in a stuttering voice. "Y-yes my lord, I know these countries! I-I even traded there recently with the Empire and Theocracy! Please don't kill my family!" Finally, he bowed down and pressed his forehead into the dirt.
Cure Elim smiled. Either from the pathetic sight of the slug, or because of the information the slug had given him. It was probably a combination of the two.
"Great! Then you should know what's going on there, right?" Cure Elim pressed. His impatience grew before it was suppressed by an emotional suppressor.
"Yes my lord! In Baharut judging by the rumors there has been a new purge of nobles recently, and in the Theocracy there is a new recruitment of fighters for the war against the Elven King..." Rhehled didn't have time to finish, because Cure Elim interrupted him again.
"Enough! I'm not interested in such things. Better tell me, do you know anything about the Sorcerer's Kingdom?" Finally, Cure Elim came to the point.
"P-Pardon me my lord, the Sorcerer's Kingdom?" The merchant asked cautiously.
Cure Elim gritted his teeth but didn't anger, instead he explained in more detail. "Yes, it is a state founded by an undead named Ainz Ooal Gown. During the annual wars between the Re-Estiz and the Baharut Empire, he carried out what was called the massacre on the Plains of Katz. Afterward, the Kingdom was forced to give him the fortress city of Erantel. So? Does that mean anything to you?"
"P-pardon me my lord, but I know nothing about the Sorcerer's Kingdom, this Ainz Ooal Gown, or the massacre on the Plains of the Katzes. As far as I know the last yearly war between the Kingdom and the Empire ended as usual with a draw 4 months ago" The merchant was laying out everything he knew on the matter.
All the while, Cure Elim watched his face carefully, trying to ferret out any signs of lying. And the man didn't seem to be lying to him.
'4 months... Assuming the wars happen at the same time of year each time, that leaves me with about 2 months until Nazarick arrives' Cure Elim tried to match the information provided by the merchant with Pavel Stukov's knowledge. 'No. That's not necessarily the case. I may be a few years before his arrival, which would be very helpful to me'
Taking stock, Cure Elim realized that he was very likely to be before Nazarick's arrival. Whether or not he was close to their arrival remained to be seen. And he already had one person in mind to help him figure it out.
"Mmm, you've done well Rhehled Bassan. Your information has cleared up a lot of things for me" Murmured Cure Elim contentedly.
"I am oh-so glad to hear that my lord. Will you let me go now?" Rhehled asked hopefully.
Cure Elim smiled broadly. "Of course you will! Faithful service should always be rewarded."
Rhehled smiled faintly then hit his head on the ground. "Thank you my lord, I will remember your mercy for me until the day I die!"
"Oh, of course you will" Cure Elim was about ready to bring his fist down on this naive fool's back, but he sniffed at the last moment, prompting him to change his mind somewhat.
"[Death]" Cure Elim cast a level 8 spell, pointing his claw at the man in front of him.
Over the past 200 years, he had progressed quite far in terms of learning level magic. Although he used it reluctantly and with disdain at first, he eventually realized that all means were good, including dirty bastard magic. So the maximum available level for him at the moment was 9.
The man, still kneeling, slumped on his side like a sack of potatoes.
Cure Elim brought his claw over his corpse and cast a level 3 spell. "[Create Undead]"
The corpse began to rise with a groan. Its appearance didn't change in any way except for its eyes, which became transparent white.
With his {Manage Undead Slave} skill, Cure Elim seized control of this corpse just like he did with his armor zombies.
He clenched his hands, or rather one left hand, into a fist, the other hand was still broken as well.
'Hmm, I don't feel any difference compared to when I was Pavel Stukov' Thought Cure Elim while controlling his new first person puppet. Combined with the skills {Sight of the Undead Slave} and {Hearing of the Undead Slave}, he could control this body as his own.
This was another thing he was very proud of. At one time, it had taken him about 15 years to learn how to perfectly control hundreds of thousands of undead at once. It was his own, hard-earned mastery of necromancy that a pathetic bastard like Ainz could only dream of.
Finished with checking this meat sack, Cure Elim climbed into the wagon formerly owned by this merchant and saw what he was looking for. They were small overturned crates of gold. Many gold coins were scattered around the interior of the wagon, Cure Elim hurriedly gathered them back into one of the crates.
"What have I come to. Collecting gold like a pathetic inferior dragon" Cure Elim said his thoughts out loud with disdain.
All dragons including Cure Elim had a sniff for treasure as well as some greed for it. But Cure Elim had never succumbed to something like that. He thought those dragons that did were dumb animals that were unable to control their animal instincts.
But this time, Cure Elim had a good reason to do it. If he was going to confront Ainz, he couldn't just throw his power left and right. The only thing it would lead to was revealing information to his enemy about his own capabilities.
The unspoken policy of the True Dragon Lords also played a role. It was that Dragon Lords could not do as they pleased in the territory of other Dragon Lords. If a dragon had any business in someone else's territory, he had to negotiate with the owner of that land personally.
Cure Elim had no desire to waste time on something like that. Especially when his interests were in the territory of three Dragon Lords at once.
So for example, he would have to bow to the Platinum Dragon Lord, the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord, and that perverted, idiotic Shining Dragon Lord.
If he only had two months before Nazarick's arrival, he couldn't afford time for idle chatter and negotiation.
So he would have to integrate himself into the local society of humans to avoid giving himself away. And for that, he would need money.
"That's just the question of how to do it? I don't have any polymorph spells" Cure Elim scratched his chin with his claws. "Alright, I'll figure something out later."
Using the merchant's body, the Dragon Lord collected the gold into a box. It wasn't a quick job even with Cure Elim's skillful manipulation of the corpse. All because that broken arm was slowing him down.
Finally after a few minutes, Cure Elim gathered the gold up to the very edges of the crate, then moved it closer to the exit of the wagon so that his real body could easily pick it up.
Carefully grabbing the crate with two fingers, Cure Elim marked it under his tongue so that he wouldn't lose it during the flight.
'Good, now it's time to fly to Re-Estiz' Cure Elim thought while flapping his wings.
Once off the ground, Cure Elim rapidly gained speed until he exceeded the speed of sound. He flew to the northwest of where the merchant and adventurers were headed.
After a few seconds, its silhouette disappeared over the horizon.
Five days had passed since Cure Elim had flown towards the Re-Estiz Kingdom. In that time, he still hadn't managed to locate it, mainly because in order not to reveal himself, he was flying exclusively at night. Of course, with his night vision that shouldn't be a problem, but there was another catch: he had no idea what the cities of Re-Estiz looked like.
No, he remembered what Erantel looked like in the anime, but there was no guarantee that it would be exactly the same in reality.
'My God, even though I'm not getting tired because of my inanimate nature, it's starting to wear me out' Cure Elim scrutinized the land from a bird's eye view, looking for anything familiar. Thanks to his dragon vision, he could see everything in great detail from several kilometers away.
Now he was flying over some plains with cracked earth that looked like sand. Cure Elim had high hopes for this place, mainly because as he descended closer to the surface, he could feel the negative energy in the air. There was only one such known place in the Overlord setting, the Katz Plains.
Cure Elim continued to fly in a spiral, getting farther away from the center each time. He continued to fly like this for several more hours until he noticed some sort of wooden building on the horizon.
As he flew closer he realized that it was a fort of sorts with wooden walls, but that wasn't the most important thing. On top of the village fort in the center he saw a flag flying with two winged lions on a black background.
Cure Elim almost shrieked with joy, until he remembered in time that he was holding a box of gold in his mouth.
One way or another, he was close, now it was up to him to determine which way to fly next.
Looking around the fort of the Baharut Empire, Cure Elim discovered it had two entrances in the form of large hinged gates. Probably on one side the army comes into it from the Empire side, and from the other gate they come out to battle the Kingdom army.
Also in the distance on the side of one of the entrances, Cure Elim saw what had to be the Azerlisian Mountains. He decided that this was the right direction, so he flew there.
Half an hour later he saw in the distance a city surrounded by stone walls. He recognized it immediately because it looked like an anime. He had finally found Erantel.
Cure Elim felt excitement rise in his chest, which was immediately suppressed. He flew higher just in case, then began to look closely at the flags hanging on the central town hall. To his relief it was the flag of Re-Estiz.
'Well I guess it's too early to rejoice. After all, Erantel won't be conquered until 6 months after Ainz's arrival. It could very well be that Ainz is already playing his Momon role, so it would be dangerous to fly up there now. It would be better to start by exploring the Forest of Tob and the plains nearby' Having decided on a course of action Cure Elim flew towards the forest and what he hoped was the village of Carne.
Enri put her hand to her mouth over the yawn that escaped her. "Oh!" She shrieked quietly, bumping into the threshold of their house.
When she opened the door, she was greeted by the night sounds of crickets, and complete darkness illuminated by the pale blue light of the moon. The reason she was out of the house this late at night was trivial: she really wanted to go to the bathroom. Instead of night potties, they used a wooden toilet stall with a hole in the floor. Everyone in the village of Carne had one of these on their own plots. That was the one she was heading towards.
Thanks to the light of the moon, Enri had no trouble finding the toilet that belonged to her family. Opening it she wrinkled her nose at the smell of foul sewage and stepped inside. After doing her business, she yawned and headed towards the house. She admired the beauty of the moon for a few seconds as she suddenly noticed something incredible. It was a giant creature with two wings and four legs. It was impossible to get a closer look as it was flying from the side of the moon, but according to Enri's own guesses it was a dragon.
Enri opened her mouth wide then wiped her eyes with her hands. When she opened them again the dragon was gone.
"Must have been dream," the girl mumbled to herself, then yawned again.
Shrugging her shoulders Enri walked back into her house to head to her bed. After all tomorrow would be another rough day in the life of a farmer.
Cure Elim was grinning like a madman. He'd been damn lucky, after finding Erantel he'd been scouring the nearby villages looking for Carne and on one such occasion he'd seen a girl going to the bathroom. She looked to be about 16 years old and her reddish-blond hair in a familiar braid hairstyle left no room for doubt as to her identity. Enri Emmot - farmer, sex machine, village chief, and the great general of the goblin army. That's who it was.
'So good, now all that's left to do is find Nazarick's supposed location. If I remember correctly, the village of Carne was located about 10 kilometers away from the tomb' Cure Elim thought as he gained altitude. After all if Nazarick was here, he couldn't let himself be exposed.
After flying for a few more minutes, the trees ended replaced by grasslands. Now the Dragon Lord was more attentive than ever. The first thing he looked for was unnatural hills, but fortunately or unfortunately they were not there, nor were the standing Greek-style crypts in the middle of the field.
'I see... So he really hasn't come yet. That's good, then I can just land in the Forest of Tob' Thought Cure Elim turning back around.
Finding the perfect place to land, Cure Elim landed, knocking down a few trees in the process. Several of the unlucky animals ran away in panic, sensing the arrival of a new top predator in their territory.
With his head ducked so he couldn't be seen thanks to the trees, Cure Elim pulled out a box of gold coins and placed it next to him on the ground.
"[Extend Magic: Create Greater Undead]" Cure Elim waved his paw while casting a level 6 spell.
This magic, similar to the [Create Undead] spell, could create an undead, only not an inferior one, but a mid-ranked one.
A magic circle appeared on the grass, from which a death wizard, who Cure Elim now knew was level 35 like the death knight, emerged.
The Dragon Lord instantly seized control of the undead mage and after a brief check of his abilities, he temporarily switched back to his real body.
"[Wild Creation]" Cure Elim used low level wild magic to create simple gloves and a mask, as well as a small bag for the death wizard. The mask was white in color in the shape of a dragon's mouth with red crystals as lenses, and the gloves were a nice touch of black velvet.
After putting them on his creation, Cure Elim began to put a small amount of gold from the box into a pouch. When that was done, Cure Elim had an idea.
He thought of the Platinum Dragon Lord and his puppet armor. As he understood from the description in the book, it was likely that Tsaindorkus put some soul energy inside the armor, which was what [Life Essence] read as HP. If Cure Elim did something similar to his death wizard, he could increase his life force reserve, making him more survivable.
Concentrating Cure Elim began to do what he had planned, it took longer since he had never done such a thing before, but in the end he managed to pull it off.
"Hmm, I wonder if this will work?" Cure Elim, controlling his undead puppet, applied a weak wild magic spell that slightly increased physical parameters. It worked as if he was doing it himself.
He decided to test something else. "[Summon Undead: 9]" A two meter tall undead monster appeared that looked like a death knight, but his armor didn't have red veins and spikes on it, and his sword was a straight two-handed sword. It was a marquis of death, good for dealing damage.
"Ha ha ha ha! To think that this wild magic trick will allow me to use my own spells through this death wizard" Cure Elim laughed excitedly. "So also the mana spent is not mine, but the death wizard's. Just great."
The emotional suppressor worked again suppressing Cure Elim's joy, causing the latter to snort irritably.
"Alright time to get down to business" Pronounced Cure Elim only not with his own lips, but through his created undead.
After that, he used [World Teleportation] to get to a pre-memorized location near Erantel.
As he walked along the road, he listened to the singing of crickets, which immediately became silent at his approach, sensing the enemy of all living things.
"Wait! What business are you going so late at night to Erantel?" Asked one of the guards with a spear as Cure Elim approached the gates of the city.
"I am a traveling spellcaster looking for a place to stay for the night" Said Cure Elim a pre-made up story.
"A spell caster? And where are your belongings and food? Or did you feed on mana in the air while you were on your way here?" Said the second guard, after which both of them laughed at the joke.
Cure Elim's emotional suppressor went off, suppressing the rage that rose up inside him. He wanted to smash their heads against the walls, but he couldn't do that without creating a bunch of problems following it.
"Sir, I have a magical item that allows me to create small amounts of food and water" Replied Cure Elim ignoring the laughter of the two idiots.
"That's it, what is it? Can we see it?" Asked the first guard more seriously.
'Re-Estiz is a cesspool of corruption and drugs, so why are these guards doing their jobs so conscientiously?' Cure Elim thought disgruntledly.
"Sir I don't want any trouble. Maybe we can come to an agreement?" Said Cure Elim taking out a few gold coins from his sack.
This immediately caused the greedy looks of the two fools, who looked at each other with an understanding nod.
"Of course, it's a sin not to make a deal with such a good man" Said the first one extending his hand. His voice also sounded more friendly.
'Though no, it seems I jumped to conclusions about their integrity' Cure Elim smirked beneath his mask.
Cure Elim handed him 6 coins, which he greedily took, before counting out 3 to his comrade.
''Please come through kind sir'' Said the first guard stepping out of his way.
Cure Elim said nothing, just nodded and walked on when he was called out by the second guard.
"If you're looking for a good inn and you don't spare any money, I suggest you go to the Shining Golden Pavilion!" Shouted the guard.
Cure Elim turned around at him after which he said. "Thank you."
After walking along the muddy roads, nearly slipping a couple times, Cure Elim stood in the middle of a deserted street.
'Now I need to find the cemetery' With these thoughts the disguised Dragon Lord went to the nearest passerby he saw across the street to ask for directions.
Down below, under one of the old crypts, was a secret room. Inside, there were red candles burning dimly, and various tapestries hung on the earthen walls. The candles cast eerie shadows due to their low light, making the place seem something sinister. Also, despite the fact that it was underground, the air was quite fresh. This was possible due to the ventilation that was working.
A bald, corpse-like man dressed in a red caster's robe raised a black sphere like a lump of coal over the body of a recently deceased girl lying at his feet. The sphere glowed with an ominous purple light as he spoke the words of the spell. "[Create Undead]"
The dead girl's eyelids fluttered open revealing to the world whitish and lifeless eyes. With an unintelligible groan, the girl began to clumsily rise to her feet. Once she was on her feet, the man in red waved his hand, beckoning to another man in a black robe.
"Take her to the others" He said to his assistant.
"Yes Master Khajiit" The aide bowed respectfully to Khajiit before grabbing the corpse of the girl by the arm and leading her deeper into the catacombs.
Khajiit Dale Badantel - that was the name of the man in the red robe - sighed. This was the tenth zombie he had raised today using the death sphere. Thanks to it, he could bypass the usual limit on the number of undead the caster could create and control, allowing him to create a large army of undead given enough time.
Of course this method had its limitations as well. The death-sphere as payment for the use of spells required a large amount of negative energy, which feeds the unholy life of the undead. To collect it, one had to seek out places like the Graveyard of Erantel or the Plains of Katz, where the negative energy would naturally form.
After that, there was a slow process of absorption that could last for hours or even days. But fortunately for Khajiit, each created undead exudes a certain amount of negative energy into the atmosphere, allowing it to fill the sphere of death much faster over time. Now, for example, it only took twenty-four hours to gather enough energy to create ten zombies, whereas at the beginning of his stay in Erantel it would not have been enough for even one.
Khajiit smiled wickedly. "Pretty soon I'll be able to ascend and then we'll see each other again" He pulled an amulet from under his robe and stroked it gently with his finger. It was the only thing left of his mother.
For her sake he was willing to do anything.
It was for his mother's sake that Khajiit had joined the Zuranon Death Cult to find a way to bring her back to life. And it was why he was going to sacrifice an entire city so that he could gather enough negative energy to transform into the powerful undead known as the Elder Lich.
Of course, in order to accomplish this plan he would have to be patient. Well, what, what, but he had plenty of patience. After all, he had waited almost five years, he would be able to wait a couple more months.
When he thought about it, he remembered a conversation with his master who was the leader of Zuranon.
Master had contacted Khajiit a week ago and said that in a couple months he would be able to carry out his plan to turn Erantel into a necropolis. Something to do with a new ally Zuranon had made and some powerful magical item. He wasn't really interested in the details, the main thing was that he would be able to perform the ritual not in two years as originally planned, but in just two months.
Khajiit was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps. Turning around he saw that it was another of his assistants, Gregory.
"Master, I come with a report" Gregory bowed respectfully and then handed Khajiit a folded parchment.
The latter in turn placed the orb of death in a pocket in his robe, then took the offered report.
It contained information about the number of undead they had at the moment, as well as little things like reagents for rituals, candles, magic items, etc.
"Alright, what about you? How are your attempts at undead creation going?" Khajiit asked, folding up the scroll and handing it back to Gregory.
His face brightened as he reported with a smile. "Oooh, everything is just fine master. I finally managed to create a seventh zombie under my control last night."
"Oh? Not bad, at your age I could only create five at a time. If you keep it up, you might even surpass me when you're as old as I am now" Khajiit praised his assistant while rubbing his chin thoughtfully with his hand.
"Thank you master, you are too kind to me" Bowed Gregory once more.
Khajiit waved him off. "It is natural to praise a talented student."
After all, praise made them try harder. And if they tried harder, the chance of Khajiit's dream coming true also increased.
*BUM!*
A sudden loud sound echoed through the catacombs. Khajiit recognized it, it was the sound of the unlocking of the secret passage through the crypt upstairs.
"Are we expecting someone today? Did Mark come back with supplies?" Khajiit asked Gregory.
The man swallowed and shook his head. "No master, Mark wasn't due back until this afternoon."
apprentice's reply made Khajiit frown. His hand instinctively fumbled for the sphere of death in his pocket.
"Hide in the shadows and be ready to attack" Khajiit ordered, intercepting his wooden staff more comfortably.
Gregory nodded, also taking out his staff and hurriedly hiding in the shadows of the nearest pillar.
Khajiit exhaled unhappily. Just what they needed was uninvited guests.
'Could it be some careless adventurer accidentally stumbling across the button or a marauder in search of booty? No matter any fool who dares to interfere with my plans will regret coming in here. This crypt will be their grave' Khajiit smirked wickedly as he thought of how he would kill the intruder.
Khajiit began to peer up the stairs looking out. At first there was nothing, but then he heard slow footsteps and then he saw the shadow of someone descending. Whoever it was, it seemed to be alone.
After another half a minute, Khajiit saw a man in a caster's robe with a hooded head. He wore a white mask in the shape of a dragon's face with red eyes that seemed to glow. He didn't see an adventurer's badge. So it's some random spellcaster, he thought.
Khajiit waited until the man came within a few meters of him and spoke to the uninvited guest. "I don't know how you found this place, but it was foolish of you to come here alone."
The stranger stopped. "Oh? That's it, what? Something I don't feel any threat to me."
Khajiit frowned. 'This man is not just a fool, but an arrogant fool. To come here like this with such bravado. Stop. Can he?
Khajiit became worried and thus asked impatiently. "Are you alone? Where are your companions?"
The man's head tilted back slightly. "Who asks like that right in the forehead? If someone else were in my place, they probably wouldn't answer you. Alright then, I'll amuse you anyway by telling you that I came in one."
"Lies! No one in their right mind would go down into the unknown catacombs of a cemetery alone! Your friends are probably waiting for an opportune moment in ambush, aren't they?" Khajiit said loudly, sputtering saliva.
He was about ready to launch a spell at this fool when suddenly his shoulders started shaking and he himself started laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Kheh! Tsk damn suppressor!" The stranger coughed in the middle of his laughter. "What was I going to say? Oh yeah, I completely forgot that humans are herd animals that apply their herd instinct to all areas of their lives. Even you the one who wants to become an undead still think in human terms Khajiit Dale Badantel. I find it amusing."
Khajiit's heart beat faster when he heard his own name.'How? How does he know! Maybe I've been betrayed? But by who? Is it Mark? Or is it Alexander?'
'You're wrong' Said the masked stranger as if he could read Khajiit's mind. It made him flinch a little. "I don't know about you because someone told me about you or anything like that. No. I know about you just like I know you want to resurrect your mother or that the leader of Zuranon is a night lich or that level ten magic exists. I know a lot of things I shouldn't know."
Khajiit stood speechless as the information that only he and no one else knew was dumped on him. Who the hell was this person?
He was about to open his mouth and ask, but didn't have time because he spoke again.
"Okay, I don't have much time left before this doll falls apart" The stranger looked at his hand and clenched it into a fist. "I've already spent a lot of time going through all the big crypts in this place."
Next he reached up to his face and removed his mask. His face was revealed, or should I say lack thereof, for instead of a face he had a bare skull without a single shred of flesh. Two dim red lights flickered in its eye sockets.
Khajiit exhaled. He also heard the quiet sigh of his apprentice hiding in the shadows.
"You are the elder lich." Khajiit declared. "Now I see the source of your confidence."
Suddenly everything fell into place for Khajiit. He realized how this senior lich knew so much about him and the Zuranon leader. He must have been one of the master's subordinates. Yes, that was the case after all, only his master knew about his goal to resurrect his mother.
Therefore, he rasped a bit and asked. "So Master Apocryphus sent you?"
"Who?" the lich asked simply.
Khajiit slammed his eyes shut in confusion and repeated. "Master Apocryphus, leader of Zuranon."
"Ahhhh, no. I serve no one" Said the lich. Khajiit felt bloodlust fill the space at those words, making him feel cold.
After a second the bloodlust disappeared and the lich repeated what he said this time calmly. "I serve no one, but you will serve me Khajiit from now on" He pointed his index finger at him.
Khajiit realized that this was not one of Zuranon's members, and so he swung his staff at the intruder and cast a spell. "[Acid Javelin]!"
A large drop of acid formed in front of his staff and like a spear flew straight at the elder lich. At the last moment, when it was about to hit the lich's face, the lich disappeared in a spit of light and appeared beside Khajiit.
"Telporta-ha?!" Khajiit didn't have time to be surprised before the lich's right hand grabbed him by the throat and forcefully slammed his back into the wall.
Khajiit dropped the staff and the death orb because he felt dizzy. He felt an otherworldly chill seep through his neck all over his body. Khajiit knew it was negative energy that the lich was infusing into his body to weaken him. And much to his dismay the undead's plan had worked.
He heard his apprentice shout. "Let go of Master Khajiit! [Magic Arrow]!"
Three magic arrows slammed into the back of the lich's head, causing him to quack and turn to Gregory.
"Cockroach, you should have stayed in that hole you crawled out of! [Death]" The lich growled angrily.
Gregory collapsed to the stone floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
"W-what did you do to him?" Khajiit wheezed as hard as he could clinging to the lich's arm to lessen the strain on his neck.
"Nothing much, just a simple level eight instant death spell" The older lich explained as if nothing had happened.
Khajiit's eyes widened. "N-impossible! No one can use that kind of magic!"
"Ha ha ha! Nothing is impossible for me Khajiit" Said the lich, then began to lower Khajiit to the ground. "Alright you're weakened enough already."
Khajiit gulped air greedily and coughed as the undead's grip disappeared from his throat. His gaze locked onto the sphere of death for the last thing that could save him. But either because he was weakened or the older lich had seen it coming, at the end of the convo he didn't have time to grab it, as the lich's hand had grabbed it earlier. Khajiit only cursed at this.
"So you are the talking ball?" Said the lich, peering at the sphere of death. "You don't have to pretend to be mute, I know you're intelligent. Is that it? Your mood will improve even more when you see my true form, what you see now is just a pathetic puppet I control."
'What's he babbling about? A talking balloon? A puppet?" Khajiit's thoughts were jumbled as he rubbed the bruises on his throat.
For a moment he had the urge to reach for his staff and fire a spell at the undead while he was distracted. But after thinking it over carefully, he gave up on that idea. His enemy could use level five magic, which meant he wouldn't die even if he shot a fireball at him.
"Good, we can talk later, I still have business with this man" Said the lich tucking the orb away in a small pouch tied to his belt.
Khajiit watched as the undead squatted down to be on the same level as him.
"Tell me Khajiit, how long have you been preparing this ritual in Erantel?" The lich asked a rather odd question.
He blinked a few times, pondering the meaning of the words. Opening his mouth he replied. "What, what does it matter?"
"Ohhh, my dear Khajiit, it depends if you can resurrect your mother or if I kill you here and now and turn your corpse undead so you can't be resurrected" lich replied in a carefree tone.
The mention of his mother made him grimace, but the lich didn't seem to care.
"Almost five years" He spat out.
"I need an exact figure. There's no way I'd believe a pedantic man like you wouldn't know it' The lich continued to press.
'How would I know that I didn't count it!' he thought, however after that realization appeared in his mind. 'No. I know.'
Of course he knew, for despite his patience, he was also impatient counting each day until he could see his mother alive again.
Realizing this he replied. "Four years and ten months. That's exactly how long I've been here."
"So I have two months left..." Lich stroked his chin thoughtfully. "No. Probably even less."
What was this lich talking about? Was it related to his ritual? Alas Khajiit did not know. Meanwhile, the lich came out of his musings.
"Alright, that's taken care of. Now it's up to you to decide your fate by choosing one of the two options I've given you." The lich paused briefly and continued. "Option one: you pledge your allegiance to me and will serve me, and in return I will then resurrect your mother. The second: you refuse and I simply kill you and then your life's work goes into the abyss. So what is your choice Khajiit Dale Badantel?"
The older lich spread his arms out to the side as if holding those very options in the palm of his hand.
Khajiit wondered if he should try, if he should do something, but he realized there was nothing he could do. As he had said earlier, when asked how long he had been here, he had mentioned that he would turn his body undead, which meant that even if his master found his body, he wouldn't be able to resurrect it. And then, as the lich said again, Khajiit's life's work would disappear into dust.
"So what did you choose? I don't have much time to waste here" Asked the lich again.
"I agree. I Khajiit Dale Badantel swear my allegiance to you and will serve you well" Khajiit bowed his head accepting his defeat.
"Wonderful" Just said the lich. Khajiit thought his eyes flashed brighter.
"In that case, here is my first task for you. You know a boy named Nfirea Barear, don't you?" The older lich inquired.
Of course Khajiit knew the boy. After all, he had the enviable talent of using any magical item without restriction.
"Yes master, I know that boy" Answered a grimace on his face at the word master.
"Good, you must kidnap him for me. The most important thing is to keep him alive and unharmed. So be gentle with him" The lich explained his task.
"Master may I ask what he is for?" Khajiit inquired cautiously.
The lich was silent for a while, apparently thinking whether to answer the question or not, but eventually decided to answer. "Let's just say I need his talent for something."
lich's cryptic words did little to clarify things for him, but Khajiit had no trouble guessing that he wanted the boy to use his talent to activate some magical item.
"I'll contact you again in a week, hopefully you'll have the boy by then" Said the lich getting up from his squat. "I'll use [Message] to contact you. Just so you know for sure it's me, memorize the code phrase 'Hadron Collider', got me?"
Khajiit twirled the strange phrase on his tongue a couple times and nodded.
"Good, oh yeah almost forgot" He said turning to Gregory's corpse. "This is a little help from me [Create Greater Undead]"
Khajiit was surprised, he had never heard such a spell before. Was it an improved version of [Create Undead]? If that was the case, it must be at least a fourth level or fifth level spell.
He watched as a black mist appeared out of thin air and enveloped the body of the fallen disciple, after which he twitched and began to clumsily rise up. As he got to his feet, some kind of black tar-like liquid poured from his mouth and eyes until it completely covered Gregory's body. Then his form began to elongate getting taller and more muscular. Gone were the spellcaster's robes, replaced by ninja-like garments. There were daggers in small pouches on his legs.
Khajiit had never seen such an undead before. Furthermore, it was still emitting a clear aura of power that could rival the four core members of the Zuranon Realm of Heroes.
"What kind of undead is that?" In a surprised voice, he asked.
"It's a rogue of death, he's very good at disguising and killing. I'm giving him to you just in case so you can ensure a perfect kidnapping" Said the senior lich.
Khajiit was surprised. He was being given such a powerful undead? Yes with his help he could destroy Erantel even now!
"Rogue of death from now on you are under the command of this man in the red robe. You will assist him in the kidnapping mission" The undead only nodded silently, at his words.
"Okay, I'm already late." Said the lich walking out to the middle of the room. "I'll be waiting for the results of your work Khajiit" With those last words he disappeared in a blur of white light.
Khajiit exhaled without even noticing he was holding his breath. So much had happened today that he wanted to just go and lie down.
"Okay, Stefan! Come here!" Shouted another one of his students.
"Master! I'm already here, what... what is that undead thing?" The apprentice stared at the rogur of death in surprise.
Khajiit irritably replied. "A gift from our patron, take it to the other undead" Waving his hand he picked up his staff from the floor.
"Y-yes, I mean obey master!" The apprentice bowed and tried to move the undead but it wouldn't budge.
Khajiit who saw this said to the undead. "Go with this human and don't cause trouble."
Undead simply nodded and obediently followed the dazed Stefan.
Khajiit himself cautiously waddled to his chambers. He needed to rest.
